While one could argue that festival days are like children and should all be treated equally, I’ll be honest and confess to being a bit partial to Saturday’s lineup. In my opinion it’s stacked from start to finish, but everyone’s tastes are different and I totally understand if you disagree. Fans of noisy, energetic rock music will be buried in good stuff, and that includes the pair of cult bands from the ’90s closing out the Blue stage. And of all the conflicts to deal with this weekend, perhaps the hardest will be Water From Your Eyes vs. Wednesday. If you’re familiar with both acts, I wish you good luck splitting your time. But that’s pretty much the whole point of this preview guide – to help you make those tough decisions to the best of your ability. The more you know about the artists, the easier it will be to choose (…or in some cases, harder?). Join me past the jump, and I’ll attempt to carve some sense out of what promises to be an epic Saturday.
Lifeguard [1:00 – 1:40, Green Stage]
Another day, another opening set from a Chicago artist. This time it’s local band Lifeguard, who are very young (all teenagers) and very talented. They make a lot of noise and play with a lot of ferocity, which honestly is exactly what you want to kick start your day of festival-going. Try not to expend all your energy right from the get-go, but Lifeguard will probably make that difficult. Propulsive rhythms paired with copious amounts of shredding can make for a dynamite combination when done right, and these guys have enough of the goods to get signed to Matador Records. Their profile is going up pretty rapidly, and while it’s relatively easy to catch Lifeguard playing around Chicago these days, it’s only a matter of time before they hit the big time. See them now before they become all jaded and the crowds become untenable!
L’Rain [1:45 – 2:25, Red Stage]
It’s tough to classify L’Rain’s music, and that’s by design. The multi-instrumental musician otherwise known as Taja Cheek doesn’t make the sort of difficult, near-impenetrable songs you typically might associate with experimental music. Instead, think of her tracks and albums like pop and rock songs filtered through a fun house mirror. One moment everything is fine, and the next the vocals get warbled or a guitar suddenly sounds out of key. And while the hiccup is obvious, it never throws things off or feels out of place. That’s what made last year’s I Killed Your Dog one of the best releases of 2023, and what made Fatigue a similar game-changer in 2021. To me, L’Rain is one of the best and most compelling artists working today, making her Saturday set one you shouldn’t miss.
Kara Jackson [2:30 – 3:15, Green Stage]
Hotline TNT [2:45 – 3:30, Blue Stage]
Chicago’s own Kara Jackson is multi-talented. An award-winning, former National Youth Poet Laureate, it’s quite clear she knows how to write. Her debut album, 2023’s Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love?, also proves she can sing quite well with dynamic range. The songs themselves hew close to the folk side of things, often just pairing her voice with an acoustic guitar. But when melodies extend outward and the compositions become fully filled out, there’s an immense beauty within them that counters a lot of the harsher and uncomfortable lyrics. It’s the kind of stuff that feels like a revelation every time you listen to it. On stage I do feel like Kara Jackson benefits most from an enclosed space and an attentive audience. Not sure Pitchfork can provide that for her, and with so many soft acoustic folk songs I’m a bit worried people will get bored or at least try to find shade away from the stage to relax on a blanket during her set. Such is life, but the great music will be there if you want it to be!
You can’t get much better counter-programming in this time slot than Hotline TNT opening up the Blue stage. Loud, brash, and energetic, Will Anderson’s project hits hard and fast with an effortless and compelling blend of shoegaze and power-pop. If fuzzed out guitars and insanely catchy melodies are your thing, then you’ll be happier than a pig in slop with what this band has to offer. Last year’s Cartwheel album was one of 2023’s best, and it reminded me a lot of more ’90s focused bands like The Replacements and Husker Du. Hotline TNT fits right in with that throwback mentality, so prepare yourself to be blissed out for a good 45 minutes in Union Park on a Saturday afternoon.
feeble little horse [3:20 – 4:10, Red Stage]
The transition from Hotline TNT at the Blue stage to feeble little horse on the Red stage is absolutely something I’d recommend. The two bands feel like not-so-distant kin for one another, though feeble little horse turns that volume knob up a little higher with a bit more noise and a bit harsher textures. Still, you get the relentlessly fuzzed out guitars, the shoegaze influence, the power-pop melodies, and choruses so catchy they’ll stick with you despite all the noise. You may despise what these songs end up doing to your ears, but one might argue the high is worth the pain. It often feels like every song is racing for the finish line as soon as it begins, and while their latest album Girl With Fish clocks in at under 30 minutes, it’s just enough time to catch your bearings before diving back in again. Can’t wait to see how is all comes together in what promises to be a stimulating Pitchfork performance.
Water From Your Eyes [4:00 – 4:45, Blue Stage]
Wednesday [4:15 – 5:10, Green Stage]
I love this nice little Saturday afternoon block of weird, poppy, and loud rock music, which continues with a set from Water From Your Eyes back over at the Blue stage. Seemingly obsessed with the idea of clashes in sound, guitars pile on atop electronic beats and random samples to create things that don’t sound like they go together but in context actually do. Rachel Brown and Nate Amos know what they’re doing, despite an overly chill attitude about everything and a sense of humor that implies almost all their ideas come from playing around with various sounds while high. Last year’s Everyone’s Crushed managed to be their strongest effort yet, a confluence of art pop built upon loops and post-punk guitars and the general mangling of everything into this hideously near-perfect monstrosity that was one of 2023’s best. Live, it’s just a delight to watch them work. And so you should.
But then we have Wednesday in direct competition here, which makes for one of the most difficult conflicts of the entire weekend. Wednesday’s album Rat Saw God was my personal favorite from last year, a collection of rock songs that fall anywhere from alt-country to heavy dirge, depending on the moment. Mostly though, they’re the sort of band you’d otherwise assume has listened to a lot of ’90s alt-rock. Stylistically they switch it up from track to track, but there’s plenty of strong guitar work from MJ Lenderman and pedal steel player Xandy Chelmis that interplays between Karly Hartzman’s frank tales of suburban ennui. Their songs tend to go to a lot of dark places with addict friends overdosing and hanging outside of abandoned strip malls, but they also come from the sort of reality we don’t often like to look at or dwell upon. Which is another part of why Wednesday is such a great band. Their live show is excellent too. Join me and we’ll break down during “Bull Believer” together.
De La Soul [5:15 – 6:10, Red Stage]
Sweeping Promises [5:15 – 6:00, Blue Stage]
No doubt about it, De La Soul are one of the best rap trios in existence. Legends. They were there right around the beginning of hip hop (aka the ’80s), and whether you know it or not, have served as an influence for tons of rappers (and even non-rappers) today. Their debut album, 1989’s 3 Feet High and Rising, remains perfect and a benchmark by which many other hip hop albums are measured. While their legacy has really only come into focus more these last few years thanks in no small part to their music finally becoming available on streaming services for the first time (a record label dispute prevented it until last year), many today might be better familiar with De La Soul thanks to frequent guest spots on Gorillaz records. These days, a De La Soul live show is a rare thing, particularly since Trugoy the Dove’s passing in 2023. Now performing as a duo, Pitchfork will be one of their only shows in 2024. Catch them while you still can!
Oh man, have you listened to a lot of punk rock from the ’80s? If so, Sweeping Promises are almost certainly right up your alley. The duo of Lira Mondal and Caufield Schnug operate from the most basic mindset, which is to say their songs are simple and catchy and recorded with absolutely zero sheen or regard for professionalism. Call it no-fi if you’d like, but it definitely sounds like they put a single, cheap microphone inside of a room with poor acoustics to make their records. Last year’s Good Living Is Coming for You is a quick hit and packed to the gills with hooks that just won’t let go. While their sound is very straightforward and has a lot of raucous energy to it, the band still feels right at home following Water From Your Eyes on the Blue stage in case you’re on the hunt for more stylistic parity.
Jessie Ware [6:15 – 7:15, Green Stage]
Bratmobile [6:30 – 7:15, Blue Stage]
It has been fascinating to watch Jessie Ware evolve over the last decade or so. After coming out the gate hot with the critically acclaimed Devotion back in 2012, she fell pretty firmly into the sultry R&B genre somewhere between Whitney Houston, Blood Orange, Miguel, and Sade. I vaguely recall seeing her perform during that era, and recall her stage presence being much more energetic and fun than the songs she was singing. Again, the material was great, it just required her to smolder and she probably felt like the crowds weren’t fully connecting with the material – particularly in an outdoor festival type setting. A couple of solid, if less popular efforts followed, before a modest reinvention arrived in 2020 courtesy of What’s Your Pleasure?. Moving in unplanned lockstep with Dua Lipa, Ware helped usher in a disco revival that sharply increased the tempos of her songs and packed with hooks that refuse to leave your head. Keeping it going with 2023’s That! Feels Good! only further solidified this evolution, and she’s earned an army of new fans as a result. If you’re in need of a fun dance party to help warm up for Jamie xx’s headlining set, Jessie Ware at the Green stage is where you need to be. I don’t want to oversell it, but this has the potential to be one of the best sets of the whole weekend.
Where do we stand on Bratmobile these days? It’s tough to say. All respect to the band, which was around and influential during the start of the riot grrrl movement in the early ’90s. During that time, they released one record (Pottymouth in 1993) before infamously breaking up on stage in the middle of a show in 1994. The evolution of the riot grrrl movement, along with controversies surrounding creating safe spaces for women and fans in general at some of their shows, contributed to the breakup. They returned in the early 2000s and even released two albums that did okay despite mixed critical reactions. They broke up again in 2004 before returning for some very sporadic reunion shows in 2019 and 2023. Bratmobile haven’t been back in Chicago in who knows how long, and it’s a rare treat that Pitchfork booked them in 2024. They’ll most assuredly play the classics, which is to say a lot of tongue-in-cheek feminist punk songs that feel right at home next to Bikini Kill and The Slits. As one of the original bands of the riot grrrl movement, they deserve far more respect than they currently have in the music community writ large.
Carly Rae Jepsen [7:25 – 8:25, Red Stage]
UNWOUND [7:45 – 8:25, Blue Stage]
After “Call Me Maybe” fell from the cultural zeitgeist back in 2012, it started to seem like Carly Rae Jepsen was going to be a one-hit wonder. Yeah, the Owl City song “Good Time” on which Jepsen featured was also a technical hit, but her second album Kiss came and went without a whole lot of fanfare (at least in the US, despite solid sales). Whether it was a calculated move or simply certain tastemakers seeing a talented artist and waiting to raise her up, Jepsen became an unlikely pop hero within the indie community in 2015 with her album Emotion. She has developed a cult following with an older audience, who continue to embrace her every move. While I can’t call myself the biggest fan of her 2022 effort The Loneliest Time, which offered a number of stylistic shifts and some ’80s pop pastiche that lacked the spark, energy, and hooks of her best work, I still hold her in high regard and look forward to her next move. The good news is that her live show continues to be excellent, and an obsessive fan base that knows every word of every song will absolutely help her Pitchfork set stay exciting and fun.
The Blue stage closes out on Saturday with another cult favorite from the ’90s, making a rare return to Chicago in a reunited state. UNWOUND hail from the Pacific NW and gained early attention while record labels were looking for the next Nirvana from that region. Over the course of a decade and seven albums, UNWOUND paid their dues and today are regarded by many as one of the best bands of the ’90s. Their sound has elements of grunge to it, but post-hardcore or noise rock are probably more apt descriptors, though they became much more experimental and avant-garde with their final releases. After disbanding in 2002 in part due to the stress of touring and bassist Vern Rumsey’s alcoholism, UNWOUND reformed in 2022 as a tribute to Rumsey’s memory following his death in 2020. It’s good to have them back, despite the loss of Rumsey. Here’s hoping this time around they get the love and respect deserved during their initial run. In short, if you love rock music and have the chance to see UNWOUND in 2024, you’d be wise to do so.
Jamie xx [8:30 – 9:45, Green Stage]
This might be the first time I can recall Pitchfork having an EDM artist headline the festival. Does Jamie xx deserve the slot? With a new album on the way, probably. But on the flip side of that coin, I saw Jamie xx perform just last year at a festival smaller than Pitchfork, and he was second for that day behind LCD Soundsystem. For that set, Jamie xx set up at the sound booth opposite the stage, either to be closer to the crowd or because organizers needed the stage empty to set up for the headliner. Did I enjoy his set? Sure. He mixed in a bunch of popular pop and rap songs, dabbled in some of his own material from the In Colour album, and even gave a nod to his band The xx. But it was also just a DJ set. He stands behind some boards, twists some knobs, and the music comes out of the speakers. It’s not the most exciting thing to watch. If you only want to dance though, I suppose it doesn’t really matter that much. It’d be a lot more exciting if he brought out some of the guests featured on his albums, but I doubt many of them would fly into Chicago for one song. A cool light show would also make it that much better, which is what I suspect will be the case at Pitchfork. Keep your expectations low, focus on moving your body, and Jamie xx will deliver to the best of his ability.
